Saturday, April 16, 2011

Growing up as kids Superman was the ultimate superhero. He was according to the popular phrase "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound". In our mind he was one of our heroes, he had the ability to protect everyone and save the day. There wasn’t anything Superman wasn’t capable of doing. He was always able to come to the rescue and save the day. Then he would fly off into the sky and everybody would live happily ever after. But as adults we all know that he is a fictional character and there is no such thing as happily ever after. In everyday real life the role of Superman is played by parents. We have the responsibility of being our kid’s Superman. In their mind’s eye we are the super strong, we have the ability to make everything bad go away. They know once they tell us what is troubling them we will do everything possible to make it go away. As far as they are concerned Superman will come to save the day. But what happens when Superman isn’t able to save the day in their eyes. How will they respond to that revelation? Will it destroy the image their parent as a superhero in their eyes? How will they respond to the image of seeing their Superman with his cape ripped and costume in ruins? This image could be too much for them and their young minds. How do they respond to the concept of their hero not being perfect, of being incapable of coming to their rescue? The role and image we present to our children is of us being perfect. But in reality we truly know it is impossible to be perfect. But we try and force the illusion to our kids that we are perfect. We have recreated ourselves as a fictional character. A character that our kids are searching for.